Weed -

Weed was a German-British hard-rock quintet, joined by Uriah Heep singer Ken Hensley for their 1971 album.

Members: Reinhold Spiegelfeld (bass), Bernd Hohmann [White Man Molle] (flute, vocals), Werner Monka (guitar), Peet Becker (drums), Rainer Schnelle (keyboards)

Formation

Weed formed in late 1970 in Hamburg when two Virus members — bassist Reinhold Spiegelfeld and flutist/singer Bernd ‘White Man Molle’ Hohmann — teamed with guitarist Werner Monka, drummer Peet Becker (ex-Rattles), and keyboardist Rainer Schnelle. Ken Hensley joined them in the studio during a German stay between the 1971 Uriah Heep albums Salisbury and Look at Yourself.

Weed…!

Weed released their self-titled album in 1971 on Philips.

The album spans six tracks of organ-heavy hard rock with alternating passages of riff tradeoff between guitarist Werner Monka and guest multi-instrumentalist Ken Hensley, who contributes both guitar and organ alongside keyboardist Rainer Schnelle. Flutist Bernd Hohmann interjects melodic motifs over the denser arrangements, with Hensley and Hohmann trading vocals across the set. All six songs are credited to concert promoter and Frumpy manager Bodo Albes.

Weed…! opens with “Sweet Morning Light,” a slow-burning track with dirge-paced intensity and sharp exchanges between organ jabs and distorted guitar accents. “My Dream” starts with near-silence—an extended piano intro—before erupting into thick power chords and climbing Hammond passages over fatalistic lyrics. The instrumental title track closes the album in frenzied form, with guitarist Werner Monka running wild across fuzz-saturated leads as Hensley and Schnelle reinforce the charge with heavy organ. Softer detours like “Lonely Ship” and “Before I Die” pivot to balladic phrasing and warm chord changes, while “Slowin’ Down” leans into a laid-back shuffle under blues-scale inflections. Overall, Weed…! alternates between restrained setups and high-voltage segments that showcase a sharp command of pacing and tonal weight.

A1. “Sweet Morning Light” (5:47)
A2. “Lonely Ship” (3:12)
A3. “My Dream” (6:32)

B1. “Slowin’ Down” (4:30)
B2. “Before I Die” (3:45)
B3. “Weed” (7:12)

Weed recorded the album in March 1971 at Windrose-Dumont Time Studio in Hamburg with producer Rainer Goltermann and engineer Wolfgang Claus. Hensley, then on break from Uriah Heep sessions, supplied all six compositions and overdubbed organ and guitar parts atop the group’s studio arrangements. Philips issued the album in a laminated single sleeve with group name and tracklist printed in red stencil over a green-tinted soldier photo.

Postlude

Peet Becker surfaced in ethno-rockers Oasis, which issued the 1979 album Father More Ghana on Crystal Records.

Rainer Schnelle spent time in the US, where he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He backed Joachim Kühn on the pianist’s 1983 title I’m Not Dreaming then enlisted Sigi Busch for the Rainer Schnelle Trio, which self-released the 1984 album Haymarket. His next combo, the jazz-quartet Tomato Kiss, cut a 1986 album for NABEL.

Werner Monka reemerged in 1988 as Govi, a moniker for his new age music. Over the next three decades, he made six albums on the Real Music label and five each on High Octave and Govi Music.

Discography: